The World Race | Cambodia from William Benjamin Reed on Vimeo.
Druglords, Marijuana, and Baptisms. That’s the best way to describe last month. Every World Race route has a MANISTRY month which means that for 1 month of the 11, all of the guys of the squad unite as one team and do life together, wherever that may be. For us it was Cape Town. More specifically, a ghetto on the outskirts of the western cape called Oceanview.
It’s difficult to try to put everything I learned and experienced into words. My brother Myles has written a great blog HERE and my brother John has written another great blog HERE
Our team name was “Forge.” Iron sharpening iron, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego, iron being shaped in the forge, etc. We nicknamed the house we lived in “The Forge.” The purpose of the month was to be shaped as men. The first 5 months left no stone unturned when it comes to character, spiritual life, my past, my future. But Manistry month was a time to be poured into by incredible lifelong brothers whom I respect and to glean from their experiences over the last 5 months.
John Eldridge put it simply in his book Wild at Heart, “Until we are broken, our life will be self-centered, self-reliant; our strength will be our own. So long as you think you are really something in and of yourself, what will you need God for? I don’t trust a man who hasn’t suffered; I don’t let a man get close to me who hasn’t faced his wound.”
MANISTRY Month was a time of redemption for all of us. Team Forge lit something in each one of us. Brotherhood. Redemption. Identity. Purpose. Perspective. Satisfaction.
The qualities of people I choose to surround myself with has changed. In New York, my friendships were all about me. And how can I benefit from this relationship. What do I get out of it? The World Race has beaten that out of me. For those qualities don’t hold water when the shit hits the fan as it does many times in life.
I now look for different qualities in friends. Here’s the shortlist:
- They are dangerous. “The Church” corporately as America has defined it, has feminized men. I want brothers in my life who are not safe. To keep me on my toes and push my limits.
- They have a battle to fight. For what is a man without purpose.
- They have their own adventure to live.
- True Humility. It’s sickening that today’s society jokes about a “humble-brag”
- They are willing to be broken in front of me and don’t run from the conversations. If it’s one thing I’ve learned on the Race, the conversations that you dread are those that you truly need to have and learn from most.
- They give me constructive feedback regularly.
I think it’s incredibly important to know what you’re looking for in friendships. Not in a selfish sense. But so that you may have purposeful interaction with all those around you. And so you know when shit hits the fan, you have warriors to fight with.
Now that I know what I am looking for in friendships, it’s easy to hold myself accountable to those same attributes. These six qualities are just what I’ve come up with when taking inventory of the men I have with me on the Race. I urge you to take stock in the friendships you have now. Start fresh this year. Write down 6 or 7 ideal qualities you want from your friends, decide with friendships you’d like to pursue more fully, and tell them. Allow feedback to happen. Hold yourself accountable to the same qualities you want from your friends.
MANISTRY has changed me. The Race has changed me. God has changed me. And I don’t want to stop changing until the day I die. I am Dangerous. I am Wild. I am a Force to be Reckoned With. Watch out America, you’ve got some warriors coming home.
P.S. regarding the title of this blog – this month I lived in the ghetto, hung out with the town’s most dangerous Drug Lords, went to sleep every night to the stench of marijuana emanating from the neighbors and the walls, and had the opportunity to baptize 3 new believers. God is good.
P.S.S.
